Etruscan Origins | Ancient Myths and DNA

SUPPORT the Barksdale Family and History Channel BELOW! We take a look at an early influential European civilization headquartered on the Italian peninsula, the Etruscans. Etruria, a region on the Central Western side of the Italian peninsula, that area covered by modern Tuscany, Lazio, and Umbria, was once home to a people and civilization called Etruscans. The Etruscan culture, having arisen around the 9th Century BC, flourished to become the dominant culture in Italy by 650 BC. How the origin of the Etruscans came about, and how their culture grew to out-compete other cultures on the Italian peninsula, including the Ligures and North Picenes in Northern Italy, the Rutulians Southeast of Rome, and the Sicanians of Sicily, will be discussed here. The Italian peninsula has been the home of human ancestors perhaps as far back as 850,000 years ago, and about 200,000 years ago the Neanderthals left evidence of their presence in Italy and were at that time the most advanced humans in Europe. Modern humans first entered the archaeological record in Italy around 40,000 years ago, and eventually gave rise to the earliest identifiable ancient civilizations of Italy. The historical record of ancient Italy begins with the legendary origins of Rome around 750 BC and the more or less concurrent beginnings of the Etruscan culture. The earliest people of Italy spoke a variety of languages, including Indo-European languages, and others, including the earliest Etruscans, spoke a...